Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
Chamber Works
In the Mists (1912)
Presto (1910)
A Fairy-Tale (1910)
Sonata I. X.1905
Capriccio (1926)
András Schiff (piano), Boris Pergamenschikow (cello), Musiktage Mondsee Ensemble
rec. 1992, Mozarteum-Orchesterhaus, Salzburg, Austria
Presto CD
DECCA 440 312-2 [63]
András Schiff was artistic director of the Musiktage Mondsee from 1989 to 1998 and the musicians who join him for the Capriccio are among those who took part in the 1992 festival. Mondsee is very close to Salzburg, where these performances were recorded and is, in common with many other small-festival venues, a beautiful setting. Schiff writes in the booklet: “Every year [first week of September] between twenty-five and forty musicians of international calibre are invited – both older masters and first-class performers from the younger generation. The programmes are intended to display many different kinds of chamber music ensemble. This makes a welcome change from the usual concert format, where one tends to hear programmes of only string quartets or only lieder.”
Andras Schiff is most associated with Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann, but his many recordings also include Bartók, Brahms, Smetana, Dvořák, Mendelssohn and Veress.
While for some tastes Schiff may minimally underplay the more disturbing, wild or even quirky elements of Janáček's music, others – including myself - will be happy with no exaggeration or underlining and will feel that Schiff's relative reserve actually is beneficial. I sincerely hope I am not overstating this point. Those in any doubt should sample the fourth movement of In the mists, or both movements of the Sonata, where Schiff conveys the passionate climaxes with great eloquence. I would say that his performances are entirely characteristic of his outstanding musicianship. His loving and cultured interpretations bring out all the beauty and soul of this idiosyncratic music. He shows that there is no need to strive for more emphasis or intensity than is already in the music. Janáček is imbued with drama, passion, poetry and tenderness, all realised by Schiff with unforced naturalness. There is never a harsh sound and one always feels that he has more in reserve. I have never heard these piano works played with more depth or more satisfyingly.
The four-movement In the mists dates from only nine years after the composer's daughter Olga had died and when his career had not yet taken off, even though he was in his late fifties. Schiff plays with marvellous lyricism and sensitivity. Pergamenschikow and Schiff give a passionate, earthy performance of the Presto, followed by a charming and sensitive interpretation of A Fairy-Tale. Beginning with cello pizzicato, its first movement builds to intense climaxes, with the cellist's eloquence beautifully complemented by Schiff's artistry.
Janáček's music is never unemotional but the Sonata is his especially poignant response to the death of a young worker in a demonstration demanding a Czech university in Brno, then a predominantly German city. Schiff's involvement is total, making as strong a case for this music as one could hope for.
The Capriccio, by far the latest piece on this disc, was composed for the pianist Otakar Hollmann, who had lost his right arm in World War I. Its mood-alternations of reflective and quirky/grotesque will be familiar to aficionados of this composer. The odd combination of piano left hand with flute/piccolo, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba must be utterly unique, but will not seem at all out of character to those listeners who happily respond to Janáček's idiosyncratic sound-world. The performance is outstanding.
The notes by Paula Kennedy are excellent, while an additional piece by Schiff (as quoted) is informative about the Mondsee Festival (Musiktage Mondsee). This is a thoroughly engrossing CD of music by one of the most original composers of the twentieth century, a period of staggering musical diversity. These performances are of the kind which bring lasting satisfaction.
Philip Borg-Wheeler
Musiktage Mondsee Ensemble
Wolfgang Schulz (flute)
Hans Gansch (trumpet)
Konrad Monsberger (trumpet)
Erik Hainzl (trombone)
William McElheney (trombone)
Hans Stroecker (bass trombone)
Rudolf Josel (tenor tuba)
